wrestling / TV Reports
Tremendous Tirades 6.01.13: EVOLVE 21 iPPV
Introduction
As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. Don’t throw that “just have fun and be a fan” junk up in here. That’s for you to do.
Today we shall look at the EVOLVE 21 iPPV, the second of three shows in Florida for the promotion, held over a four-day period. The company is running a “USA vs. The World” gimmick for this show (via four singles matches). Also, the Young Bucks will pay their mortgages with all of the Superkicks they throw tonight.
EVOLVE 21 on iPPV
USA vs. Europe: Caleb Konley vs. Tommy Taylor: Both men were involved in the EVOLVE 20 FRAY match. This is the first singles match I have really enjoyed seeing Tommy Taylor in. He got to work his style, which is much in the same school as his trainer Dave Taylor. I also haven’t been the biggest fan of Konely, but the opening portion of the match was very well done with tons of chain and counter wrestling, which you don’t always get these days. It eventually morphed onto more of a US Indy style, which worked and kept the crowd during the match, something that has been an issue on EVOLVE shows in the past. They did a fun series of roll ups and counters, leading to Konely looking for a victory roll, but eating a front electric chair drop for a near fall. Konely countered a tower of London and scored the win with a roll up to put the US up 1-0. This was a good opener and a good showing for both men, one that helped Konely but also a finish that didn’t hurt Taylor.
Match Rating: ***
Lince Dorado vs. Johnny Vandal: Rough start as Dorado was using his speed to avoid Vandal, and went for a RANA and ended up spiking Vandal on his head. Not a clean execution by either guy. They just kind of skipped the shine and the heat and just went into doing shit with no real rhyme or reason. Don’t get me wrong, they did some fun stuff, but it just felt like they decided to skip building a match properly and did stuff they wanted to do. I never really got into this, and while the crowd seemed to play along at points, it never felt like they did either. Dorado got the win with the shooting star press, continuing his momentum and feeding into the booking of EVOVLE 22. Vandal may have been legit injured, but there is a point if that was the fact that they could have done something instead of putting on a few bad minutes of pro wrestling.
Match Rating: *¾
The Bravado Brothers vs. Andrew Everett & Derek Ryze: I love the Bravado Brothers, and haven’t seen much from Andrew Everett & Derek Ryze, so I am very interested by the match. The Bravados, who are perfect gentlemen, hit the gentlemen’s agreement to score the win. Grandma would be proud. This was a perfectly fine mid-card tag team match, which gave the Bravados good momentum. But after this weekend, they need to be give better opponents, because they have a lot more to offer the shows than comedy matches and matches that come across like they don’t mean all that much. I do get that the weekend was about building momentum because it was their big debut weekend, and they did that; time to go to the next level. I came away not thinking much about Derek Ryze, but Andrew Everett does some fun stuff and plays a solid face in peril. The Bravado Brothers could and should be used in more companies.
Match Rating: **½
No DQ Match: Jon Davis vs. Chuck Taylor: Jon Davis is a no nonsense ass kicker, while Chuck Taylor comes across as largely a comedy figure. But this weekend he is out to prove himself, and left the Gentlemen’s Club at home to go it alone. This was set up as Davis has previously taken out the Gentlemen’s Club, so Taylor called for the match. No locking up or grappling here, they brawled from the bell and quickly spilled to the floor, because they do NOT like each other and this is a NO DQ match. Amazing, I know. This was a really good mesh of styles, with Davis as the ass kicking brawler, and Taylor as the guy trying to prove himself. This was also the most into a Jon Davis match I have seen people in forever, which is a good thing. The guy puts in some good performances, but some crowds do not react to him at all. This was a damn fine match bordering on pretty awesome, filled with brutality and a bit of something for everyone. Well no, it was pretty damn awesome. It was also completely different from anything else on the show up and to this point. Taylor did well playing the resilient performer with something to prove, and took some insane bumps. The finish saw Taylor call for chairs (some fans tried to give him a couch), make a pile in the ring and then unfortunately eat the three seconds around the world from Davis following a low blow. Great finish to a brutal (in the best way possible) match. I do not want him to have to kill himself every time out, but more of this Chuck Taylor, please. Hell, more of THIS Jon Davis as well.
Match Rating: ****¼
Non-Title Match: Anthony Nese & Brian Cage vs. The Young Bucks ©: And now for someone who adds nothing to the shows, Larry Dallas. Seriously, this guy does nothing for the product, but hey he worked in Japan, just ask him because he’ll tell you. Some fun antics at the beginning with the Bucks faking superkicks, and Brian Cage doing curls (10 reps) with Matt Jackson before tossing him into the air. Anthony Nese is really good, as I have previously stated, and like many others (Brian Cage even when you think about it) are guys that TNA could have and or did have and missed the boat completely. Hard to follow that No DQ match, but they did a good job and even kept the crowd for the most part, so good work by all four men. This was a really solid match, laid out well and worked very well, but with a great last few minutes that really upped the quality. Also, SUPERKICKS~!!!!!! Anthony Nese & Brian Cage won the match, which I honestly found a bit puzzling. While I appreciate the fact that the company was pushing these men in their first weekend in EVOLVE and wanted them to mean something, beating the Bucks was not what I would have done. The Bucks lost in singles matches on night one, and then on this night they lose in a tag match to a thrown together tag team. And then I am supposed to buy them headlining night three? That doesn’t jive with me booking wise. But the fact that they superkicked Larry Dallas made things a little better.
Match Rating: ***¾
USA vs. Mexico: Samuray Del Sol vs. Shane Strickland : I have noted several times the fact that I think Samuray Del Sol is a very good wrestler, and has shown that over the last year with EVOLVE and DUGSA. They did the big trying to one up each other into the stalemate beginning, which got the crowd liked and it got them into the match early. You watch this match and you can see why Del Sol was on WWE’s radar. He work is clean, he interacts with the crowd and he does a lot of fun, but not dangerous stuff. With Rey falling apart, Sin Cara being a bust and people not giving a shit about Del Rio; the signing of Del Sol was a no brainer as they continue to look for their next big Latino star. Del Sol scored the win with the rising sun (reverse RANA), evening the series at 1-1 in the USA vs. The World battle. This was a good showing for Strickland, but the finish made sense as Del Sol was going into a title match the following night. Remember, it’s not always the fact that you lost, but how you looked in the loss. Strickland is new and has no angle at this time, as long as he worked hard and put in a good performance, this crowd will be willing to accept him after a loss.
Match Rating: ***¾
EVOLVE Title USA vs. The World Match: AR Fox © vs. EITA: This was a non-title match, but Fox challenged EITA to add a King of Chop stipulation. If EITA wins, the EVOLVE title will be put on the line. EITA won and the match became a title bout. I like that Fox is willing to be the fighting champion, because they are trying to make the title mean something. Fox broke out the “Almost Famous” in an effort to up his game and to live up to the deal where he feel she has to break out new stuff to defeat all of these challengers. EITA is pretty damn awesome, hitting that sick moonsault to the floor that wowed the crowds at WrestleCon. Good work, and then some great near falls follows as the crowd got into things. Again, this is important because of the fact that crowd reactions have really hurt the promotion in the past. EITA had another good performance, but Fox scored the win with the Lo Mien Pain to put the USA up 2-1 and to retain the title. While I love the fact that they are working to put the title over, I also felt that the fact that they made the match a title match took away from the drama. So early into Fox’s run, they weren’t going to switch the title, so I feel that was a mistake. This was a good defense from Fox, a little disjointed and with the booking point I just made, didn’t come ff quite as well as some of the other matches. I would like to see Fox rematch with Trent Baretta in July, considering they had a great match for FIP, and Baretta won the match. It makes sense and further connects the “WWNLIve” universe.
Match Rating: ***½
Non-Title USA vs. The World Match: Johnny Gargano © vs. Tomahawk TT: I was really looking forward to this match, as Gargano has been delivering in and out of the ring, and because Tomahawk TT has a ton of talent and potential. Tomahawk TT’s big gimmick is that he chops the ever living shit out of you, and early Gargano did a good job of avoiding until Tomahawk TT finally connected and took him to the floor. As they worked on the floor, Tomahawk TT went for a chop, Gargano avoided it and Tomahawk TT’s essentially chopped the post, which made a SICK sound. Gargano then working the hand and fingers in submissions while reciting the pledge of allegiance was pretty spectacular. Fun ending sequence as they were battling back and forth with strikes, Gargano got the escape but Tomahawk TT was able to escape. Tomahawk TT then scored the biggest win of his DGUSA career, using the night ride to defeat champion Johnny Gargano. Tomahawk TT and EITA are the young guns of Dragon Gate, and most feel could be the future of that company, and you can see that I their DGUSA booking. They are in the US to learn, and are constantly improving. The win likely sets up a title match, hopefully in July at the shows that have been announced. Also, the Gargano loss was fun because of his over the top “I am the leader, I will bring the win home because that’s what leaders do” only to see him fail because he was over confident. Really good, but I never felt like it got near the heat f Davis vs. Taylor. The series was tied 2-2.
Match Rating: ***¾
USA vs. The World Tiebreaker: Johnny Gargano and AR Fox vs. Tomahawk TT and EITA: The series was tied 2-2, and Gargano decided that things could not end like this. AR Fox arrived and we had a tag match to break the tie. Tomahawk TT and EITA nearly won right away as they cleared out Gargano and hit the doomsday lung blower on Fox for a near fall. They also hit it on Gargano moments later and Fox had to make a save. Tomahawk TT and EITA are just so fun to watch. All four guys had a lot left in the tank to deliver the extra main event, and due to Gargano thinking he is the leader, we had some miscommunication with he and Fox, which almost cost them the match. Jon Davis made an appearance and had to be restrained, and the Young Bucks then made a cameo, and because they are dicks, and superkicked Fox, EITA and Tomahawk TT. This played perfectly into their characters, and also adds fuel to the fire for the tag title match for the next night. Gargano locked in the escape on Tomahawk TT and the ref had to call for the bell. It was short, but fun and filled with a lot of action.
Match Rating: ***
This was another good show on a weekend of good shows. EVOLVE shit the bed with EVOLVE 19, but with this triple shot weekend did a lot right to make the company interesting again. We got new talent, we got a lot of them in the mix already and we had some damn good wrestling. Outside of the Lince Dorado vs. Johnny Vandal match, everything on the show is either good to really good, with Davis vs. Taylor being an excellent match. I can understand people being soured after WM weekend and with the Internet stream issues, but this is another show that you should check out. Johnny Gargano continues to have good in ring performances, but is absolutely killing it as the completely disingenuous champion. He is a great man. I personally have a few booking issues with the promotion, but it is nothing that is hurting the shows to a large degree. You can order the EVOLVE shows, as well as any WWNLive iPPV at this link. Show Rating: 8.2 As a reminder, I will be going by the 411 scale… 0 – 0.9: Torture As a reminder, this is not a basic “how good was the show” number like a TV show, as I have always felt that a PPV is very different from a regular show. I have always judged PPV on how they built to a match, the match quality, crowd reactions to matches and angles, the overall booking, how the PPV leads into the future, PPV price and so on and so forth. I have added this in here for an explanation since so many have asked, and I have previously discussed it on podcasts. I understand that this may seem different, but that is how I grade. Obviously your criteria may be different. |
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